Advocates of disabled students closely watching new ed chief - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos got off to a rocky start with families of disabled children when she acknowledged being confused by a question at her confirmation hearing about a federal law that has governed special education since 1975.

Now that DeVos is on the job at the U.S. Education Department, advocacy groups say they will be watching closely to see how much the billionaire school choice champion has learned and how her philosophy will affect the more than 6.5 million public school students who need special support in class.

“It’s fair to say that there’s a high level of anxiety from our members,” said Denise Stile Marshall, executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, which opposed DeVos’ nomination.

As education secretary, DeVos leads the department charged with enforcing the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. The 42-year-old law entitles children who struggle to learn or have medical or developmental challenges to a “free appropriate public education” aligned with their state’s academic standards. It includes services tailored to each child’s needs and in the “least restrictive environment” where those needs can be met. To help states meet the excess costs, the federal government supplied $11.9 billion in funding in 2016.

During her January hearing DeVos exasperated lawmakers and parents when, asked whether schools receiving taxpayer funding should be required to comply with IDEA, she replied it was “best left to the states.” When asked whether she was aware IDEA is a federal law, she answered, “I may have confused it.”

Amid the backlash, DeVos wrote in a letter to Sen. Johnny Isakson of the Senate education committee that she is “committed to enforcing all federal laws and protecting the hard won rights of students with disabilities.” Half of the Senate voted against her confirmation, leaving Vice President Mike Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote to give her the job.

Apparent technical issues that blocked public access to an IDEA-related website did nothing to instill confidence. “It was not taken down and we are working to resolve ASAP,” the department tweeted Feb. 8, the day after DeVos was sworn in. As of Monday, traffic was being redirected to a different department site, which included a note saying the department was working to resolve the technical issues.